And how has that bullpen been against quality teams like the Yankees Indians Red Sox and athletics? Everything must be put in context because the Astros in 2018 mop up on bad teams and struggle mightily against good ones. Check out the Astros bullpen stats against these 4 teams... it’s not pretty. A bullpen that feasts on the royals White Sox and rangers etc is not going to perform well in October.
The A's have always been annoying. Looks like they'll take 3/4 but that only makes them 4/9 against us this year, right? They were hot coming in but we'll see how they hold up over second half. One thing that is clear is that Astros have zero arms in bullpen with elite strikeout stuff...closest would be Rondon? The rest depend on location and batters chasing.
Yankees. Red Sox. Who honestly thinks we’d win a series against Boston and New York the way this team is playing right now?!
Gotta get a closer like Brad Hand or Britton. Can't have a repeat of last year with Red Sox and Yanks getting better. Based on performance... Move Rondon to set-up, McHugh the 7th inning man (maybe 8th?), and everyone else (Harris, Devo, Smith, etc.) in 7th or whenever. I trust Hinch. But yeah... A's bringing it too us like I expected. A's may catch SEA and make some deals. Good for them.
Thats true of all teams because, you know, they are good teams. Similarly, other teams' bullpens struggle against the Astros more than they do against the White Sox. That seems like fairly common sense. That said, I'd like to hear about how you'd identify the bullpen guys that do well specifically against good teams. And no, the Astros do not "struggle mightily against good ones".
Yeah, we need another bullpen arm. Or two. This same schtick happens whenever we face good teams - all year long we have struggled to close out games late. Britton would be nice.
We got a lot better, but last year we also added Liriano and Verlander mid-season. I expect the Yanks and Red Sox to add firepower, and we should too.
You mean the same Yankees that just went 2-2 against the 26-67 Orioles? It's like people don't even follow baseball. You seem like the type that last year thought we had no chance against Cleveland, Boston, NY, and LA because we lost some series and had some bad days - last year, we had a horrible 6 weeks around now and it was still irrelevant in the end.
Let me ask it to you this way, do you think really think that the Astros have the second best bullpen in baseball? The Astros, Red Sox and Yankees are the three best teams in the AL. Do you know how the "second best bullpen in baseball" has faired against the Yankees and Red Sox in the 11 times the Astros have played them? In 27 innings the Astros bullpen has given up 18 runs........ for an era approaching 7.
The A’s are built like a team that could really go on to put something together. I’d worry about them more so than Seattle... both now and in the future.
Yeah......... that 6.67 bullpen era against the Yankees and Red Sox isn't struggling at all..........
That's great, fantastic. We got better. But it's time to fill some of these holes up. Everyone wants to trade for another catcher... while completely ignoring glares holes in the bullpen... what's it gonna take? Harris coughing up the lead at Yankee Stadium in the playoffs? How many high leverage situations have Sipp, Rondon, Perez, etc. pitched? I like the options we have but I'm not trying to go in without any more additions. Yanks and Red Sox have added motivation and hell.... even the Yanks going after Machado... I'm not comfortable with standing pat TBH. I know we have injuries, etc. but some of these losses are concerning. Can't remember coughing up leads like this last year.
Well the Astros have faced the Yankees and Red Sox 11 times this season and the bullpen has given up 3 or more runs in 5 of those 11 times so.... But hey........ maybe the White Sox and Rangers go on a run and we can face them in the playoffs.......
